NYS Science Standards–Living Environment
STANDARD 1: Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and
engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and
develop solutions.
• Key Idea 1: The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations of
natural phenomena in a continuing and creative process.
 Performance Indicator 1.1: Elaborate on basic scientific and personal
explanations of natural phenomena, and develop extended visual
models and mathematical formulations to represent one’s thinking.
1.1a Scientific explanations are built by combining what people
already know about the world.
1.1c Science provides knowledge, but values are also essential
making effective and ethical decisions about the application of
scientific knowledge.
 Performance Indicator 1.2: Hone ideas through reasoning, library
research, and discussion with others, including experts.
1.2a Inquiry involves asking questions and locating, interpreting,
and processing information from a variety of sources.
1.2b Inquiry involves making judgments about the reliability of the
source and relevance of information.
 Performance Indicator 1.3: Work toward reconciling competing
explanations; clarify points of agreement and disagreement.
1.3a Scientific explanations are accepted when they are consistent
with experimental and observational evidence and when they
lead to accurate predictions.
• Key Idea 3: The observations made while testing proposed explanations, methods,
provide new insights into natural phenomena.
 Performance Indicator 3.4: Based on the results of the test and through
public discussion, revise the explanation and contemplate additional
research.
3.4c Claims should be questioned if fact and opinion are
intermingled, if adequate evidence is not cited, or if the
conclusions do not follow logically from the evidence given.
 Performance Indicator 3.5: Develop a written report for public
scrutiny that describes the proposed explanation, including a literature
review, the research carried out, its result, and suggestions for further
research.
3.5a One assumption of science is that other individuals could arrive
at the same explanation if they had access to similar evidence.
Scientists make the results of their investigations public; they
should describe the investigations in ways that enable others
to repeat the investigations.
3.5b Scientists use peer review to evaluate the results of scientific
investigations and the explanations proposed by other
scientists. They analyze the experimental procedures, examine
the evidence, identify faulty reasoning, point out statements
that go beyond the evidence, and suggest alternative
explanations for the same observations.
Hog Wild Lesson 1: New York State Science Standards for Living Environment
© 2007 GIT Ahead Project http://fli.hws.edu/gitahead
STANDARD 4: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles,
and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and
recognize the historical development of ideas in science.
• Key Idea 1: Living things are both similar to and different from each other and from
nonliving things.
 Performance Indicator 1.1: Explain how diversity of populations within
ecosystems relates to the stability of ecosystems.
1.1f Every population is linked, directly or indirectly, with many
others in an ecosystem. Disruptions in the numbers and types
of species and environmental changes can upset ecosystem
stability.
• Key Idea 6: Plants and animals depend on each other and their physical environment.
 Performance Indicator 6.3: Explain how the living and nonliving
environments change over time and respond to disturbances.
6.3c A stable ecosystem can be altered, either rapidly or slowly,
through the activities of organisms (including humans), or
through climatic changes or natural disasters. The altered
ecosystem can usually recover through gradual changes back
to a point of long-term stability.
• Key Idea 7: Human decisions and activities have had a profound impact on the
physical and living environment.
 Performance Indicator 7.1: Describe the range of interrelationships of
humans with the living and nonliving environment.
7.1c Human beings are part of the Earth’s ecosystems. Human
activities can, deliberately or inadvertently, alter the
equilibrium in ecosystems. Humans modify ecosystems as a
result of population growth, consumption, and technology.
Human destruction of habitats through direct harvesting,
pollution, atmospheric changes, and other factors is threatening
current global stability, and if not addressed, ecosystems may
be irreversibly affected.
 Performance Indicator 7.2: Explain the impact of technological
development and growth in the human population on the living and
nonliving environment.
7.2a Human activities that degrade ecosystems result in a loss of
diversity of the living and nonliving environment. For
example, the influence of humans on other organisms occurs
through land use and pollution. Land use decreases the space
and resources available to other species, and pollution changes
the chemical composition of air, soil, and water.
Hog Wild Lesson 1: New York State Science Standards for Living Environment
© 2007 GIT Ahead Project http://fli.hws.edu/gitahead